The Last Word
by Erin Clark
Summary: Oneshot. Audrey goes to visit McGill after he's been placed in holding. Day 5, sometime after 5:00 PM. Slight AudreyLynn.


Disclaimer: 24 is the property of Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, and some other very lucky people. :-)

Author's Notes: This takes place some time after 5:00 PM on Day 5. The episode hasn't aired as of yet, but Kim's "return" gets a tiny mention. I think Lynn McGill's character is an ass, but after the 4:00-5:00 episode I definitely wanted to write something small about him and Audrey. This story was originally a lot longer, but all the dialouge just trickled right out of my head. It's my first fic, so don't expect a masterpiece. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

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Audrey Raines took a deep breath, straightened out her suit, and pushed open the door to the holding room.

It was dark, with only two fluorescent lights shining from on the back wall. Her eyes were quick to adjust to the harsh atmosphere of the rarely occupied place. Lynn McGill was standing a few feet away, hands rubbing at his tired face. The day had been more stressful than normal, and Audrey assumed that jumping into a terror situation such as this one would dredge up a whole lot of anxiety. Lynn's hands slid to his sides.

"What the hell do _you_ want?" he asked, sounding even more exhausted than he looked. Audrey opened her mouth to speak.

"I, uh, just took a step back from work to meet with Jack's daughter. She's just found out that he's alive."

Audrey stopped. Lynn was staring off into space, and she wasn't sure if he had heard. She cleared her throat.

"It brought me back down to Earth. I felt like showing you a little compassion." She eyed him warily.

"'Took a step back from work,' that's always comforting to hear!" Lynn gasped sarcastically. His fake jubilation quickly turned to a look of hopelessness and disgust.

"This place is falling apart already. And as for you showing me some compassion? Don't even bother, I really doubt you're capable of it." He ran a hand through his hair and walked around the tiny room impatiently. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"Lynn--"

"Mr. McGill" he corrected in a sing-song tone.

"--I came here to see if you understand why I had you taken out." Lynn raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, but the steely look never left his eyes.

"Oh I understand. I embarassed you in front of your co-workers and you hit me back as hard as you could." Audrey looked taken aback, which amused him to no end.

"You really are delusional," she muttered.

"I'm not delusional. I'm realistic," Lynn stated flatly, the amusement gone from his face.

"No, you were given too much authority and that's caused you to get a swelled head," Audrey insisted, an angry edge slowly creeping into her voice.

"And you're letting your personal life interfere with your performance," he shot back, waiting for a reaction.

_So he knows about me and Jack. Don't start getting all worked up,' _Audrey thought, trying to stay calm and expressionless.

"What are you talking about?"

Lynn's temperature started to rise. He was so, so sick of repeating himself to the incompetent drones that filled CTU.

"We're in the middle of a huge national security crisis. There are terrorists waiting out there with nerve gas, and you're spending our precious time making phone calls to your boyfriend!"

"Jack is helping us," Audrey said, her eyes filled with defiance, lost as to why Lynn wouldn't trust Bauer to do his job. Lynn started pacing once more.

"I don't want to hear it," he said, throwing his hands in the air. Audrey was growing more and more desperate to make him realize he was at fault.

"If Bill were here right now, Chloe, Edgar, and I would have _no need_ to sneak around. Mr. Buchanan values every bit of information CTU can get. Lynn stepped closer to Audrey, narrowing his eyes. His voice was bitingly cold.

"You seem pretty fond of him too. Is that the big plan? To screw your way to the top?"

For a moment, Audrey felt genuinely hurt by his insinuation, but she hid her feelings well.

"I really hope you don't think I've used my relationship with Jack to get ahead at my job." Lynn laughed joylessly.

"No, I don't. I take that back. Your dad took care of that."

"You want to berate me, go ahead. But do not _ever_ say a word about my father," Audrey warned. Lynn's face grew almost somber for a moment.

"Your father is a great man. I just wish hed've passed that greatness onto you."

"I've worked very hard to get where I'm at today. Don't belittle that because you slipped up," she said, staring into Lynn's eyes. In the last hour and a half, the two had been fighting a silent war against each other. That look was no different. Each was trying to will the other into giving up. Audrey searched for a sign of weakness. For a split second Lynn allowed himself a look at her lips, and Audrey almost smiled. Lynn crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling.

"Are you done rambling?" he asked, sounding like a bored child. Audrey shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"Look I came in here wanting to be respectful, but you've made it clear that there is nothing about you _worth_ respecting." Lynn made a sad, puppy-dog face.

"Aww, you're breaking my heart."

Audrey took a step back towards the door.

"I hope you know that Bill Buchanan is a hell of a great guy to have in charge around here, and he's also pretty damn forgiving. I'm willing to bet anything that you'll be back at work within a few hours. You'll be seeing an awful lot of me, and I'm done being civil." She looked him dead in the eye.

"You're already starting to unravel and you can be sure that I'll be around when you come undone."

Still keeping her eyes locked on his, Audrey placed her hand on the doorknob. Lynn's voice grew more firm.

"I just want you to keep something in mind: I always get the last word, Audrey."

_'Oh really?'_

"That's _Ms. Raines._"

She didn't see him smile as she turned around and slammed the door.

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Hope you didn't think it was too bad! Please leave a review. :-) 


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